ABOUT US
MISSION
The mission of the Open Hearth Foundation, Inc. (OHF) is to create and maintain a community center in Washington, DC that serves Pagans of all paths. The Open Hearth Foundation was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 1999.
GOALS
The goals of the Open Hearth Foundation are:
- To develop financial and community support for the DC Pagan Community Center
- To foster the growth and standing of the Pagan community in the DC metro area
- To develop and provide shared resources for the Pagan community in the DC metro area
ABOUT THE OPEN HEARTH FOUNDATION
The Open Hearth Foundation (OHF) was founded in 1999 with the mission of launching a Pagan community center in the Washington, D.C. region. The organization was granted 501(c)3 tax-exempt status in 2000. “Town hall” meetings were conducted that year to determine what the Pagan community needed and wanted to see in a community center. Up until this point, the OHF has been fundraising through membership and sponsorship and by hosting gala events. The organization has spent a great deal of time sponsoring and/or organizing community events and festivals to promote a strong Pagan community, such as an ice cream social, yard sale, Pagans’ night out, Pagan band jams, Pagan Pride Days, Samhain Drumming at the Jefferson Memorial, and Pagan Coming Out Day. The OHF has been collecting book donations for a Pagan library to be housed in the community center.
In 2010, the organization was faced with a crisis. Real estate prices that compounded over the decade the organization was raising support coupled with declining membership. Instead of buying property and building the perfect space, the organization was faced with the reality that it would likely need to rent. The resounding voice from the Pagan community was that the center needed to manifest as soon as possible, or the project might be dead. The OHF Board of Governors decided to conduct another round of town halls to drum up support for the project. Membership during this time tripled and the Board decided that the project would move forward. In January of 2011, Pagan leaders from the area were called into a summit to weigh in on what they needed from a Pagan community center. In July of 2011, the Board began exploring rental properties, and signed a lease for a rental property in September. Organizers and members went straight to work on outfitting the space, and the DC Pagan community center opened it’s doors on December 31, 2011.
THREE YEAR BUSINESS PLAN
Click here to view our business plan. Updated in October of 2011. |
